London Mint Eyes World Title

Having conquered all-comers at the UK leg of the Championship Gaming Series last month, team London Mint has been busy practising for the CGS finals in Los Angeles in December. We caught up with Sujoy Roy, manager for the team, to find out how well preparations are going.

IGN: How does it feel to represent the UK in the Championship Gaming Series? Are you worried about letting the country down?

Sujoy Roy: It's a huge responsibility to represent London and the UK. As a nation, we love to compete in international tournaments and always support our teams. The London Mint has some of the world's best players and I have no doubt that they'll make our country proud of them.

IGN: Which country do you think will provide the strongest competition?

Sujoy Roy: I'm most worried about the European teams, particularly Emil's Stockholm Magnetik. They have a great all-round team, strong in every game and very tough to break down.

IGN: What's the difference between casual videogaming and professional gaming? Do you think that a lot of people mistakenly think that it's easier than it really is?

Sujoy Roy: Being a professional gamer is like being professional at any sport. You have to be completely dedicated to your discipline, training constantly and working on strategies all the time. You have to live the game to understand every law of the world you are playing in, so that you can take every advantage when it's time to play a match. I'm sure some people might imagine that it's an easy job, but in reality there's a lot of hard work being done in preparation for every tournament to be ready for the one game that comes along where you can win a fortune in just a few minutes.

IGN: Do you think that a player can be an 'all-rounder' and be good at all games, or does everyone need to specialise in a particular genre? For example, can someone be great at racers and shooters?

Sujoy Roy: You can certainly be an all-rounder at a high level in many games, the same way that some athletes can play different sports well. However, I don't think it's possible to be world class at more than one game because of the sheer devotion you have to put into it.

IGN: How are you warming up ready for the final? Do you have any particular training routines?

Sujoy Roy: I'll be asking my players to make sure that every practice game they play is worthwhile, against good opposition, where they are engaging their brains and thinking about how they are playing. Practice is not necessarily enough to become the best. Players need to have good practice where they are improving their skills and knowledge of the game.

IGN: Do you have any pre-match superstitions or lucky items?

Sujoy Roy: I don't believe in superstition. I believe in hard work and dedication.

IGN: Is there a lot of competition between the Birmingham and London teams?

Sujoy Roy: Originally we had our rivalry to become the best UK team. However since the UK finals earlier this year we have worked together more as both of us will be representing the same country in the world finals. We've been training together a lot since all of the best UK players are concentrated into our two teams.

IGN: Do you ever think that professional gaming will become as popular as televised sports events? How do you think professional gaming needs to evolve to become a mainstream event?

Sujoy Roy: I think professional gaming has the potential to become bigger than any physical sport. Unlike other sports, gaming has no boundaries. You can take part in a match online using the Internet between players all across the world. It's a universal activity uniting players from different countries, different religions, speaking different languages. Gaming is something that everyone can understand as more and more people play video games in their spare time. I'm sure that professional gamers will soon be idolised as the ultimate sportsmen.

IGN: What would you say to those people who say that professional players aren't athletes?

Sujoy Roy: The best gamers put in just as much dedication and hard work into becoming the best at their game as any athlete. Top gamers are constantly challenged by new opponents who can come out of nowhere and compete in top level tournaments to try and win a professional contract. It's a cut-throat world in gaming and only the very best survive to become professionals.